Two incidents, one at a theatre in Ohio, and the second at a mall in Indianapolis, involving large gangs of “youth” fighting each other and terrorizing other patrons of the venues took place this weekend. Oddly, even while people are begging for police intervention (despite the growing abysmal record of cops in such things), police seem to be excusing the rioters and in some cases facilitating their terror. Apparently in Indiana, NO arrests were made, for example. The terror reported by those caught up in it is obvious. Mama Liberty points out: “These folks are so conditioned to following orders that they mill around like goldfish when nobody is giving orders… They evidently can’t begin to think for themselves.” An assistant police chief told local media that he sees an “opportunity” in what happened Saturday to work with the youth: “This is definitely an opportunity to kind of listen to the young people in our community and we will continue to work with our faith-based community and other institutions in the community to establish more safe havens and work on that initiative.” Mama Liberty sees through this: “Such nonsense. The conditioned goldfish have nothing rational to say. “Safe havens? A bigger fish tank?”Clearly, this is NOT going to go away if SOMEONE doesn’t take responsibility, or is not made to do so. We can certainly expect to see more of this, whether related to police killings or not.

On to some good news! Former U.S. Alaska Senator Mike Gravel to become “pot peddler” He served as a Democratic lawmaker between 1969 and 1981, and watched the development of Richard Nixon’s “War on Drugs,” and witnessed his congressional colleagues trying to see who could produce the most heinous draconian drug laws. Now, he is heading up a company that seeks to become a nationwide distributor of cannabis products, as more and more states legalize it. I met him in 2012, and was impressed far more by him than ANY other US Senator I have met, and it seems that he would be a perfect person for this. He has changed a lot from his bad old days in the Senate, and is a pretty good minarchist.

A fascinating report shows that the Japanese economy is nearing collapse due to demographic changes which have been developing for half a century, and are now coming to a massive trigger point which could have worldwide negative consequences. To put it simply, Japan is failing to reproduce: even more astonishing, this is because more and more Japanese are just plain not interested in sex, with or without marriage!

We’ve reached the point of diminishing returns, or gone past it. Studies indicate that there is NO health benefit from cigarette tax hikes. It appears that current smokers — already willing to shell out a significant sum for cigarettes — are unlikely to be deterred by further tobacco taxes. As many of us have suspected, the only real beneficiaries of tax hikes are the politicos and bureaucrats and welfare parasites that love the taxes.

Mama’s Note: The increasing tax most certainly changes behavior in the long run. More and more people turn to the gray or black market to supply their needs, and that gives even more opportunity for the parasites, both government and other criminals, to exert even more power over the lives of others. It’s a vicious cycle present in all prohibitions.

I keep hearing more and more about the growing “college bubble” and see the developments in some relatives and acquaintances. Even the Wall Street Journal points out that postponing student loan repayments simply masks the debt problem, which is only getting worse. When students are paying back loans, they have the option to postpone their loan payments for up to three years — a benefit known as “forbearance” but this has severe negative impacts on them, their well being and livelihood, and everything else involved in the loans, which are (my opinion) increasingly just another form of welfare, just as “tuition-free” primary and secondary education is. But there is no political will to do anything but the same old thing, time after time.

More lies found in ObummerCare promises and claims. It turns out, consumers have less choice in ACA exchanges with each year. The exchange in 2015 is 21.5 percent less competitive than the individual market was in 2013. The problem is, this was known and was ignored (or in true Dilbert fashion, made one of the “features” instead of a bug). Now, millions of us are reaping the joys of ObummerCare as it continues to metastasize AS PLANNED.

Forbes has a neat idea, asking “Which Laws Should Be Repealed in 2015? Suggestions for lawmakers are provided in one recent article. With a new Congress taking office, we can expect to see a number of new laws passed. But what about repealing old ones? Don’t I wish! Of course, it would be hard for Congress to make a mistake if they simply repealed them all, don’t you think? Let the states deal even with “federal crimes,” and get rid of a couple million federal employees, all at once. It certainly would liven things up!

Now, not all of these are considered “RINO” and should NOT be, because the Republican Party cares as little for the Constitution and real liberty as the Democrats do. We cannot trust a politician, especially one in the Senate OR the House.

Overseas, even the European Union’s galloping socialism may be running out of steam badly. The much vaunted “egalitarian” SuperTax put in effect in France with much fanfare two years ago in 2012 is now dying a quiet death: indeed, crashing and burning even after it was “reinterpreted to mean that the 75% tax rate didn’t apply to ALL of the incomes (salaries) greater than 1 million Euros (1.2 million dollars), but only the portion ABOVE the one million. Now, it will go away completely. And poor Muslim children living in France with their terrorist parents and older siblings will starve… Or so it is apparently being touted. I am not sympathetic.

Christianity is today often condemned for the way it treats women, making them “second class” and demeaning them. Indeed, many who claim to be “Christians” are rejecting their faith and replacing it with some feminist-friendly religion. But these same people are demanding that we treat Islam with respect as a valid alternative. This does not jib well with the truth, which Clash Daily points out in its usual ribald and tactless way: “Islam is raping its way West,” pointing out that in many western European countries, the great majority of rapes are being committed by Muslims, and in particular those Muslims who are most loyal and faithful to their religious books, including the Koran, the Hadith, and Shari’a law. Actually, Clash Daily is really touching the tip of the iceberg: the situation as it exists in majority Muslim countries is far far worse, as regarding rape and other crimes, not just against women but against weaker segments of their population in general. Incest, homosexual abuse of children, rape of children (not just women), and more is common and accepted. BUT as I pointed out in yesterday’s commentary, Muslims are FAR from alone in this kind of thing: the outright murder of children, their neglect and abuse and worse, are common and becoming more known all the time.